


Crash

by ReptileRuler



Series: PRaZ FebuWhump [22]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Crash Landing, Gen, Irken Elites, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29695008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReptileRuler/pseuds/ReptileRuler
Summary: Red’s ship had malfunctioned over the uninhabited planet. Not supposed to happen, since they were just training for the day they would be piloting more dangerous space, but… something must have just gone wrong. They’d seen it gone down, they’d heard his voice through the intercom as he tried to regain control, and his yells before the connection broke for good. The entire Elite class had gone quiet, before the Commander barked out orders for the two of them to go get him.Febuwhump 2021 DAY 25: car accident
Series: PRaZ FebuWhump [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137614
Kudos: 13
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	Crash

**Author's Note:**

> "Car accident" and "space ship crash" is essentially the same thing, yes?

“Do you see him?”

Zim, his three height-things not even lifting him above the planet’s natural layer of smoke, stared at him.

“I don’t see anything. Gimme a lift”, Zim made little grabby motions. Purple rolled his eyes but didn’t hesitate - he grabbed Zim by the armpit and heaved him up above his own head. The smoke kept stinging their eyes as Zim scoured the barren planet from his new spot.

Red’s ship had malfunctioned over the uninhabited planet. Not supposed to happen, since they were just training for the day they would be piloting more dangerous space, but… something must have just gone wrong. They’d seen it gone down, they’d heard his voice through the intercom as he tried to regain control, and his yells before the connection broke for good. The entire Elite class had gone quiet, before the Commander barked out orders for the two of them to go get him.

It had only been two timethings at most before they landed approximately near the crash site, but it already felt like too long.

It didn’t help that this stupid wasteland was thick with smoke, rising from somewhere underground and settling like a blanket over the planet. Rendering sight near impossible.

“I can smell burning electricity”, Zim said, “somewhere among this stinky smoke. That way!” He pointed. Purple didn’t bother to drop Zim back to the ground, just placed him on his shoulders and ran. Pride be damned, he wanted Red back!

The smell reached Purple’s senses soon after. Hot circuitry and melting metal, something he’d smelled dozens of times before, though usually because Zim was doing an ‘experiment’. He reached the first pieces of debris, and almost stumbled over it when the smoke didn’t let him see it. The ship was as good as trash. It still burned, flames turning green from the planet’s gasses that mixed in with the fuel and rubber. The smoke had cleared around the crash, either eaten up by the fire, or pushed to the side by the force of the impact.

“Red?” Purple called, looking around, until Zim tugged at his antenna. "Ouch, Zim, why?!"

“There! Over there!” Zim pointed. A sliver of red cloth on the ground. The hint of an armored foot behind the rubble. Purple ran towards it, his chest feeling like it was about to burst.

“Red?” he said softer this time, his voice trembling. Red lay face down on his side in the rubble, leftover pieces of dashboard and pilot seat strewn around him, and dust covering his armor. His tunic had been torn and scorched, and the visible parts of his skin were covered in blisters and scrapes. “Are you…?”

Zim had slipped down his shoulders without him noticing. Despite Purple being both taller and a little older, Zim was faster to act, checking for PAK damage, then for pulse, then for breathing. Small, armored hands caressed Red’s cheek and turned his head until he wasn’t facing the dirty soil.

Zim’s eyes met Purple’s. He didn’t know what he expected. Reassurance, maybe, a confirmation that Red was alive and would make it…

“What are you waiting for?!” Zim snapped, “You have the medic-stuff, don’t you?”

Purple jolted into action, feeling the reprimand to his core. “Yeah, I know what to do. Shut up!” he snapped, just because he could. His PAK opened, and he reached back to produce the first aid kit sent with them by the Commander.

Cleaning wounds and burn marks, checking for broken bones, concussed brain meats, and damaged optical orbs came naturally after the initial shock. While Purple did his thing, Zim got distracted by something and walked off. Whatever, if the bug got lost on this awful planet, Purple would just leave without him. 

“That’s all I can do for now”, Purple sighed gently and leaned back. No one was around to hear him - Zim out of sight, and Red still unconscious, but he spoke anyway. It helped a little with the trembling of his fingers. He glanced down at Red, who looked a little better. Already healing and no longer covered in dirt. “Let’s get you back.”

The ship was beyond saving, which wouldn’t be fun to tell to the Commander, but that would be Red’s problem when he woke up to do his report. As gently as he could, he scooped up his partner and stood. He looked around, trying to spot Zim among the dying fires and impenetrable smoke.

There. The little one stood with his back turned to them, looking a bit enraptured by a pile of smoldering junk. He didn’t turn when Purple approached.

“We’re leaving”, Purple said. They shared a look, and Zim’s eyes trailed over Red’s form.

Without speaking, the two of them made the trek back to their ship.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
